What makes a good teacher.

[becky8898]

HI everyone: If this topic has been covered already then sorry for wasting your time. but, I looked thru 10 pages of posts back and didnt see anything on it.  As some of you might know im a student not a teacher.  Some people think I play the piano OK, maybe a little better than OK. So here is the thing. I get questions all the time from Moms on my block, or at school, or Church or at my recitals , etc. about there own kids.  You know when should they start lessons, how did I get to be good, could I listen to little johnny or Sandra, what do I think? A whole bunch of stuff like that. I try so hard not to be rude, but I consider myself totally , completely , fully , with out a doubt unqualified to answer any of these questions. Im not yet quite 13, so what if I play well. 

Well the point is, it got me thinking,  I know that someday I will do some kind of piano teaching, even all the greatest pianists teach.( Not that Im a great pianist ). So here it is,   what are the minimum qualifications that someone needs to teach piano correctly. I have broken down what I think are reasonable categories for different levels of student. 

Category 1 - Beginner student.
Category 2 - intermediate student
Category 3 - Advanced Student
Category 4 - Master Class Student.

I know here in the states no license is needed to teach piano, so anyone can teach piano no matter how unqualified they are.  And I have seen enough of my friends have teachers like that. 

Lot of words and im not sure I said it right, but any responses would be great. 

Cheers to all the great teachers everyone, Becky

[caioramos]

Hi becky!

Wow, for some reason I thought you were much older than that, like 30s 

[omar_roy]

Most pianistic things are relatively easy to teach.  Technique, phrasing, etc etc.  Sure, some things are a bit more difficult than others, but for the most part, there isn't anything truly difficult to teach.  The best teachers are the ones who force their students to listen, think, and analyze.  A common method with one of my past teachers was "Think, Execute, Evaluate."

Think about what you're going to do.
Execute that plan (AND LISTEN!!!).
Evaluate what you did.

I think that this quality applies equally well across all of the four categories.

[slane]

well I can think of some things they shouldn't be!


I think here in Oz we also let anyone call themselves a piano teacher but most people who want to follow the traditional route would look for someone with an A. Mus A (Associate in Music, Australia).
Is there something similar in the states?

I've been reading this interesting blog https://elissamilne.wordpress.com/category/music-education/
This person is a big advocate of repertoire and more repertoire. In this country, to pass an exam, you need to know 4 pieces, so teachers have traditionally taught students 4 pieces a year. Just enough to get through the exam and make the parents happy. But this doesn't lead to a real appreciation of music or a broad development of technique. Perhaps there is not a similar problem in the US.

If I were looking for a teacher for my daughter, I would give weight to the AMus qualification, but I wouldn't dismiss a teacher if she didn't have one. I would be looking for someone who taught joy and interest at the keyboard, and analysis of the music in terms of theoretical and aesthetic principles. Someone who could direct my daughter, or myself at first, to extra resources to enhance the musical understanding, such as recordings in the same genre as those being learnt. I'd also be looking for someone who teaches how to practice, and doesn't just plonk a sheet of music in front of the student and send them off to figure it out.

By the time my daughter was 10 (3 years of learning) I'd be looking for someone who has a record of getting students through exams, but not at the expense of my other criteria.

A really interesting book (might be a bit mature, as in 'adult themes' for you though) is A Genius in the Family by Hilary Dupre. There's a strong theme there that Jacqui Dupres mother was a wonderful teacher and that great care was taken to chose Jacqui's second teacher to cultivate her particular talent. Well I'm sure your neighbours aren't cultivating another Jacqueline Dupre behind the scenes, but its an interesting insight into the topic.

But, tell us Becky ... what do you like about your teacher? What do you think s/he does that is "right"? Perhaps that could lead you to a check list for people looking for a teacher. Any  13 year old who has the maturity to know she's not qualified to answer this question must have a enough self analysis to come up with a pretty good start. (Yeah I know there's an irony in there somewhere ) I didn't imagine you were 13 either .. I felt your posts were those of a pretty self assured 18 year old.

[lostinidlewonder]

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=30543.0

[jian10]

Hi, Becky,

You sound like a reasonable student who is pretty good at piano.  Then think of what your teacher taught you when you were a beginner.  Whatever she/he taught you led you this far.  I don't know which state you are in, but here in CA the competition is extremely stiff.  So most students are not taking lesson to be a pianist but to build a strong extracurrucular course. 

I've been through some good and some bad teachers in my student years.  What I learned is that you have to be a teacher who teaches for the sake of student not for yourself.  You should be able to think what your individual student needs, not what you want to show other people using your student.  Also if you get more students purely through word of mouth (not through a fancy website with exagerated achievement of yourself and your students), then maybe you are not a bad teacher after all.

[becky8898]

HI everyone - thanks for your great replies. What I liked best about my teacher when I was little was she let me have my way a lot.  I guess you could say she kept the reins just tight enough to keep me on the right track. I also loved she knew how to correct me without sounding like a correction. She also always seemed to know what piece or exercise should come next.  Somethings I didnt like at the time, but im very greatful now.  She was huge into finger substitution. Forced me to think like that. Always listen to your Legato. I also loved she seemed to know everyone. All the right people to meet at the right time. She was so wired in to the music community. 

Anyway thanks again for all the great answers.

Cheers, Becky

[nataliethepianist]

Hello Becky. Of course these views will be different because of different experiences, but here is what I would like to see from a teacher at these levels:

Category 1 - Beginner student.: As a teacher to a very beginner student, I think they should make it fun and not yet buckle down and focus on technique, you know, just get them used to the piano. As the student becomes older and more familiar with the piano, introduce them to simple score, and (I think most important) thoery and technique books.
Category 2 - intermediate student: As a teacher to an intermediate student, I would get them hooked on sight reading, as well as throwing in more theory.
Category 3 - Advanced Student: This is when a student should really become prepared and comfortable with performing, even at the intermediate level. Sight reading should take a huge knocking on. What I find most important from a teacher is the ability to listen to the student! Give them freedom to learn what they want. I think sometimes teachers forget that a student should have a say in their work, and should be encouraged to learn a difficult piece once in a while, and ofcourse with the teacher's consent.
Category 4 - Master Class Student: I don't think I am old enough to answer this or qualified to answer this as I am only 14!

[danhuyle]

One thing I hate about piano teachers when I was an undergraduate in music was that they focus on nothing but the exam pieces for 9 months. BORING. I studied with 5 piano teachers during my 4 years as an undergraduate in music. That's a world record. Does anyone here know any undergraduate in music studying with 5 teachers?

Instead what I did as a student was apply my teacher's methods to learning other pieces that I like and stuff they refused to teach me. I had all my exam pieces memorized so I practiced it minimally. I come to my lessons fully prepared, with the teacher unaware what I was doing. Too many teachers believe that teaching pieces a student dislikes will make them improve and that refusing to teach the stuff they like... WILL DRIVE A STUDENT AWAY FROM THE PIANO. I stopped playing piano completely from 2008-2011. I was ashamed of myself and my teacher made me feel guilty and ashamed.

In my third year, I had trouble applying my teacher's metronome technique of learning when she taught the Chopin Etudes which she didn't teach me, however 5 months later, I figured out how to use it learning Liszt Transcendental Etude No5, a piece my teacher won't teach me. My exam pieces that year were, Bach P&F in Cminor book1, Mozart K332, Liszt La Campanella & Transcendental Etude no9 and Barber Excursion no1. 

During my years as an undergraduate, I self learned which unfortunately I didn't learn it right and trashed the lot -
Liszt - Paganini Etude 2,4,5,6  Transcendental Etude 3,5,10 Sonata
Chopin - Scherzo 1,3,4 Etudes Op10 no2,4,7,8,9,12 Op25 no2,11  Ballade 3
Scriabin - Etude Op8 no12
Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue Op87 no1
Mozart - Sonata K330, K545

It was my final year with my 5th piano teacher that things started to make sense. The skill I was missing was COUNTING ALOUD with the metronome. That's what ties everything together.

A good teacher is one that doesn't make a student feel guilty for trying things they like. That skill alone will set you apart from others. A lot of teachers I go to make me feel ashamed of playing piano, kinda like when Lang Lang got kicked out by his teacher for having no talent, then later on saved by Mozart K330.
I almost feel guilty and ashamed for posting pieces in the audition room. No matter how hard I try, there's someone who's gonna give you the boot and make me feel like a complete fool for attempting such pieces like it's a taboo. 
I just feel like I don't belong in the piano community sometimes. If your goal is to be a good piano teacher, then stop making students feel ashamed of themselves for attempting things they are really passionate about.

[ted]

I think a very simple thing makes a good teacher, in any subject at all, including music and playing the piano. It is the ability to simultaneously impart and foster discipline and creative freedom. There are plenty who can do either, but to be able to do both, and to do so successfully and consistently with individuals of varying aptitude and personality, is in fact fairly rare.

[pianowolfi]

It's rare because it's indeed very difficult. Wise words Ted!

[fleetfingers]

ted, that is soooo true! Well said.

[nataliethepianist]

Yes, one thing I find rare in a teacher is the ability to let there students have freedom and grow as musicians, but still have the ability to well, teach the student structuredly! Ted, what a nice statement that should be taken into consideration of almost all teachers.

[mcdiddy1]

Patient, Organized, humor, personable,knowledge, experience and creativity. Everything stems from these qualities i feel.

[countrymath]

A good father and a good mother.

[pianoplayjl]

IMO the more qualifications the teacher has, the better the teaching quality from the teacher and more teaching experience. Good teachers usually stay calm when a student makes repeated mistakes or can't perform a simple piece. I feel that there are no such things as a bad student but only a bad teacher.

JL